The collapse in Seattle from cardiac arrest – you’re guaranteed defibrillation within minutes. The collapse in Washington? Call a cab.

In the fifty largest US cities, about 9,000 people collapse from cardiac arrest caused by a short circuit in the heart. This is a very treatable issue – all it needs is a shock from an AED machine. Yet only about 10% are saved.

Something is clearly wrong. True; in a large percentage of EMS calls, a longer response time will not cause harm to the patient. But what about all the other times, when every second count?

Let’s take a deeper look at the problem.

1) Insufficient Ambulances

Before we get into all the complicated issues, let’s get down to the most obvious problem – lack of ambulance units. As populations in different areas grow and change, the need for ambulances changes as well – but EMS systems are not evolving enough.

Recently, Mayor Martin J. Walsh of Boston announced that Boston Emergency Medical Service had begun training a new class that would increase their EMS count by 24 employees.

It’s time for other cities and towns to follow their lead and ramp up the number of ambulances.

2) Dispatch Errors

Last year, two young siblings, Ayina and Jai’Launi Tinglin, were killed in a Far Rockaway fire. EMS did not reach the scene until 20 minutes after the call was received.

The cause? Personnel errors preceding the dispatch.

Why the errors? Not enough training, says Jack Tanski, a telecommunicator for the Colony Police Department in Latham, NY, and a former paramedic.

Much more funds and effort needs to be invested in training and overseeing EMD. At the moment, in many agencies, the management uses the communications center as a “dumping ground” for women who are on maternity leave or employees on light duty.

The outcome?

A dispatch center full of improperly trained employees who don’t even want to be there. Like every other part of the EMS system, EMD needs a clear protocol and oversight. “EMD is like the kid in the family who gets the hand-me-downs,” said Jeff Clawson, MD, owner of Medical Priority Consultants, Inc., in Salt Lake City, UT, “EMS buys all the fire engines, helicopters, and equipment, but balks at buying a protocol that may cost $300-about the same as a battery for a defibrillator and half as much as the chair a dispatcher traditionally sits in.”

In addition, personality needs to be assessed when hiring dispatchers. A good dispatcher must have good interpersonal skills and a calm, reassuring manner.

3) Lack of Teamwork Between the EMS System and the Fire Department

The fact is that firefighters today are more likely to respond to medical emergency calls than to actual fires. Yet the culture doesn’t yet reflect that. Firefighters went into their careers expecting to fight fires, and not to plug in AEDs – so it is unsurprising that it is often difficult for them to respond properly.

In one city, firefighters median response time to a dumpster fire – which requires donning protective boots, pants, coats and breathing apparatus – was faster than their response to a cardiac arrest call. And this is understandable. Medical treatment was not what they signed up for. It is not what they were trained for.

Maybe it is time for firefighter recruiting and training to be changed to reflect the new reality. Let’s develop a new culture of partnership between EMS and fire departments.

4) Inability to Find Location of Emergency

Paper maps are basically extinct, right?

Wrong.

Many city’s ambulances have high priced GPS systems – but their paramedics still use time consumer paper maps. Why?

Because those GPS systems are only there to let the dispatchers keep track of the ambulances, not to provide direction to the drivers. Although this does cut 30-plus seconds off response time, there’s no reason the EMS responders themselves shouldn’t have GPS to help them navigate the streets.

The FDNY says that it isn’t so necessary since most EMTs work in the same areas each day. But even in an area that’s basically familiar, a GPS can go a long way in helping to locate a specific address and the best route to get there.

5) Calls Coming During a Shift Change

From his apartment window, Jonathan Agronsky saw Julia Rusinek on the ground. He rushed to the firehouse less than a block from where she fell – the firefighters there said a fire engine from another station farther away was on the way. Why couldn’t they come? Their ambulance crew was going off duty.

Last December, a paramedic was dispatched to a report of a cardiac arrest at 6:01 – but his shift had ended at 6. What did he do? He drove back to his firehouse to go off duty, and firefighters performed CPR on the victim for 25 minutes until the new paramedic crew drove to the scene.

It is not certain if such scenarios take place often, but it is definitely an issue that should be addressed, perhaps by offering a significant financial incentive for post-shift calls.

EMTs continue to be devoted to their jobs and saving lives. Putting some of the above changes into practice can go a long way towards increasing efficiency and making things easier for EMTs everywhere.

Many hosted services are offered over the web for a variety of business needs. The general term used to refer to all of these is cloud computing. Cloud computing allows online companies to use resources over the internet rather than build and maintain their own in-house infrastructures.

Cloud computing is a trendy term that can be heard everywhere these days. Simply put, it refers to storing and accessing information and applications over the web instead of getting them all stored on the hard drive of your computer.

Storing or running programs from your hard drive is called local storage. This means that everything you need is physically there with you, making access to data easy and fast, especially for the one computer and the others connected to it through a local network. This was how many industries functioned for a long time before the cloud came along.

The “cloud” refers to the internet. This calls back to the times in office presentations when the internet was represented by a puffy cloud that accepts and gives information as it hovers above everything.

You may be using cloud computing at some aspect of life without realising it. This applies to online services that you use to send email, edit your documents, stream films or TV shows, listen to music, play games online, or store files and images. Cloud computinga makes all these things possible behind it all.

The first services to use cloud computing are a couple of decades old, rising fast so that a wide range of organisations are already using the service. This includes startups to big corporations as well as non-profits and government agencies.

Cloud computing at a glance

According to a study by the IDC, 50% of information technology will transition to the cloud within 5-10 years. Among the industries that rely heavily on data are the financial sector, telecommunications, technology, health care, government, advertising, retail, gaming, energy and data services.

Furthermore, 82% of companies have found significant savings in moving to the cloud. 60% of businesses already make use of cloud-based IT for operations. 82% of companies are also planning for a multi-cloud strategy.

These stats show that cloud computing holds much promise as a rising industry as well as a valuable resource for companies to take advantage of.

Cloud solutions for business

There are three different types of cloud solutions that businesses can choose from to find the best fit – private cloud, hybrid cloud and public cloud. Each offer different features and benefits. But with each type, the end result stays the same: cloud computing can be done wherever you are, at any time.

Private cloud

Private cloud works in industries with concerns for privacy, including medium businesses and more established enterprises that need to meet standards for security and compliance.

One example is IoT companies, such as those who trace customers through their phones. Other examples include health data companies, e-commerce sites that store credit card data, industries with high intellectual property concerns, and companies that emphasise data sovereignty.

Private cloud is managed by an in-house team of IT personnel or by a private host.

Private cloud offers complete control and flexibility, enabling businesses to manage their own dedicated resources within a third party datacentre.

Hybrid cloud

Hybrid cloud is for companies that prefer the security offered by private cloud. This type of cloud solution is best for workloads that are highly dynamic and prone to changeability. This includes enterprises that can be split into two spheres, sensitive and non-sensitive.

Hybrid cloud also works best for businesses with seasonal data spikes, big data processing, and those with workloads involving API compatibility and requiring solid connection to a network. Hybrid cloud takes its name from the fact that it is managed by both in-house and external resources.

This mix of private and public clouds offer blending of such services as Office 365 for email with other applications that businesses don’t want to be made available in a shared environment.

Public cloud

Public cloud is for industries that have a significant amount of data with no major concerns for privacy. Companies that use this service opt for a pay-as-you-go structure. This type of cloud solution is managed by third party providers.

Industries that use public cloud include those in development and testing, development platform, training servers, one-off big data projects and websites with public information, product descriptions and brochures.

Public cloud is perfect for services, applications and storage that are made publicly available as well as those that use shared resources that are managed by the cloud provider.

More benefits in the cloud

Now that you know the different types of cloud solutions available, it’s time to go over the benefits of moving to the cloud. As a growing trend, cloud computing offers many. Here are five of them.

1. Time-saving, on-demand services

Cloud computing features self-service delivery for different types of workloads and needs. What makes it so attractive to businesses is that any service can be available on-demand. This effectively removes the need for companies to maintain in-house IT staff, especially for small businesses, or manage physical computer resources.

Cloud hosting allows users to get access to their files from any device, anywhere and at any time. This means that files don’t get stored in just one computer, enabling faster operations and availability. Storing in the cloud also makes it safer for businesses to protect their files, with faster backup options and recovery in cases of breaches or similar scenarios.

According to TSG, 45% of companies that use private cloud solution in their operations have enjoyed significant reduction of the time it takes to install applications. This time-saving feature enables companies to enjoy faster processes and improve productivity for employees.

Cloud computing can make integration easier for you. A lot of cloud computing applications include an Application Programming Interface (API) where you can find apps that are compatible instead of having to pay to have them customised for you so you can integrate them.

2. Flexibility

One of the biggest benefits offered by cloud computing is its flexibility. People on your team can access files and information that are relevant to work anywhere and on any device. In a highly mobile world, this is especially important.

Moreover, many companies now offer flexible working arrangements, such as remote workers and telecommuting. With cloud computing, employees can access work files even when they are not in the office, making it easier for them to work wherever they are. For small businesses, this also makes it easier for them to easily manage their operations wherever they are.

Increased flexibility and mobility enable businesses to let their employees use the devices they are comfortable with. This can include tablets, laptops and smartphones, helping employees improve their personal productivity.

With this type of elasticity, companies are able to scale up as their computing needs increase as well as scale down when they decrease. This saves them from having to invest in infrastructure that may not be needed later on in time.

3. Lower costs with pay per use

One of the best immediate benefits of moving your business to the cloud is that there is significant financial savings involved. Cloud computing fully makes use of hardware. With virtualisation, the value of the physical server is increased, giving businesses the opportunity to do more with less.

Cloud computing enables businesses, especially startups, to decrease the need for physical space, power usage, IT resources and more. As a result, there is a lower need for installation, maintenance, upgrades and costs for support and hardware. For SMBs, this is a valuable way of saving resources so they can concentrate on online growth.

Cloud-based resources are measured at granular level, which means that users only pay for the workloads and resources that they use. You also don’t need to buy software anymore or pay for someone or a team to update or install the software, manage email or file servers or run backups.

The benefit of cloud computing is that all of the applications and services are taken over by the cloud vendor, instead of you having to be responsible for any of it.

4. Improved collaboration

Productivity is increased by cloud computing due to its accessibility. Since everyone who needs access to files and data can get them wherever they are, there is less need for employees to be in the same room. This is especially relevant for workers or employees who need to travel a lot.

Teams in different locations all over the globe can readily collaborate on projects without needing to actually meet. Easy sharing and real time updates on files are facilitated, and more things will get done with web conferencing for meetings.

Cloud computing lets small businesses grow quickly online. It’s faster, easier and more convenient to sign up for a cloud-based app than to purchase a server, run it, and install software on it. Expansion is cheaper as there is no need to invest in hardware and software for the startup.

Cloud-based applications can also be accessed on common web browsers at any time. This means that users across the company can adopt to the applications without the need for intensive training. This is especially valuable for businesses with employees in different locations.

5. Enhanced security with instant updates

There is increased security for companies as software is automatically updated, bugs are fixed and content is remotely stored.

Those who have doubts on what the cloud has to offer are concerned about the safety of data outside the company’s internal firewall. The truth is, due to the robust security standards established by ISO, safety is increased when cloud solutions are used. Moreover, cloud providers are strictly required to follow the rules.

As a result, risks are reduced when it comes to loss of laptops containing confidential information as well as the threats of hackers. You can also remotely wipe sensitive data from lost laptops and gadgets so nobody else can access them.

When it comes to ensuring security with the cloud service you choose, you need to know first where your data is stored. Firewalls, detection and prevention tools as well as data encryption can help prevent intruders from getting at your information. However, you still need to know where your data goes when you stop with the service or in cases where the cloud provider closes down. Dedicated hardware is what cloud computing providers need to pass the highest security guidelines.

Data backup is recommended to make sure that you can increase your control over your data. Ensure that the data centre you’re using takes security seriously. Find out what security measures are in place in the server and data centre where your data is stored.

Managed services are also a valuable option in making your data and apps stronger. This includes managed antivirus, firewalls and detection tools. High quality cloud providers offer these to allow for better security.

On top of it all, updates, including on security, are automated.

Cloud service providers can regularly update offers, giving customers the most up to date technology possible. This can include software, servers and computer processing power. Customers can avoid wasting their time maintaining systems and updating them once new features roll out. Suppliers take care of those themselves, out of sight.

As a result, businesses can focus on growing their business while enjoying the best that the latest technology has to offer.

With the rise of the cloud computing trend, small and medium businesses can now create websites and power up online influence like never before. With many benefits to enjoy, moving to the cloud is an unmissable opportunity for companies.